17
Amanda wrung her hands and glanced nervously at Marc, who paced back and forth in the empty kitchen of Don’s apartment. His face was tense.
“I didn’t mean to kill him,” Amanda whispered. “He was hurting me. I panicked.”
Don, who had been silent for a while, yawned and stretched his back. “You only banished him. You can’t kill an archangel.”
“That’s not how the Heavens will see it,” Marc muttered.
Amanda looked at her hands. “What will happen to me?”
Marc finally stopped his pacing. He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. “Nothing will happen to you. Nothing.”
“Hold that thought,” Don said, and a moment later the front door swung open.
“Well, well, well,” Michael said. “Here we are again.”
His golden locks bounced as he strode into the apartment flanked by two other men in black blazers and stiff faces. Amanda felt Marc’s hand on her shoulder, hugging her protectively. Don stubbed out his cigarette and crossed his arms.
The archangel’s grave eyes wandered over the room. “I trust you’ve all come to your senses now?”
Marc shook his head, glaring at Michael. “She’s clean now.”
“That’s not for you to decide, demon.”
“She’s not going anywhere.”
The air itself seemed to shudder with tension. Amanda found it hard to breathe with all the divine beings in the room. She shrunk from Michael’s gaze and trembled under the weight of Marc’s arm.
Michael held up three fingers. “These are the number of transgressions made by your little pet, Marcellixis. The Heavens have certainly been more than gracious in the face of these heinous crimes. I hope you’re ready for an open war because that’s where you’re headed if you keep this up.”
Marc held up three fingers of his own. “First of all, what kind of archangel gets banished by a mortal? That’s simply a lack of competence on your end.” He lowered his first finger. “Secondly, what kind of angel barges into a lady’s home in the middle of the night, waving a sword around? I'm sure that goes against some kind of angelic protocol, and the fact that he ended up dead is, of course, a great tragedy, but once again an event that can be chalked up to incompetence.” Marc took down his second finger, leaving only his middle one up. “And finally, since when do you care about one measly human life?”
Amanda had expected the archangel to start throwing punches, but instead, a smile cracked open his lips, revealing a bright row of pristine teeth.
“You are more of a fool than I thought,” Michael said haughtily. “After the murder of Sarah Evans, Amanda passed on the taint to more people, all of who had to be cleansed. Soul blight is highly infectious.”
Amanda’s thoughts immediately went to the woman who had discovered the mess and Sarah’s body in the bathroom. She’d cried out in horror, but there had been something else in her eyes as well – a morbid thrill. She couldn’t help but wonder how many more had been sent to Purgatory because of her.
“She’s no longer infected,” Marc said. “Uriel took care of it.”
“You’re testing my patience,” Michael said, his face suddenly grim. “You’ve barely been king for one moon, yet you’re willing to sacrifice millennia of peace. And for what… the life of a human girl?”
Marc’s grip on Amanda’s shoulder tightened. “There are some things you’ll never understand. One of them is love.”
Heat pinched Amanda’s cheeks red. What a way to come out and say it, she thought. Still, her heart started beating merrily in her chest.
“Love?” The archangel chuckled. “Comedic.”
“You called?” A woman in a slitted black dress strolled into the apartment, leaving trails of sweet perfume in her wake.
A pang of envy poisoned Amanda’s mind at the sight of the woman’s long stocking-clad legs, her hourglass figure, and her unfathomably long and lush (and seemingly natural) eyelashes. Her complicated updo looked like that of a fairytale princess, and her emerald eyes gleamed with lust.
“I did say comedic,” Michael said, with a tight smile.
“But daaawling,” the woman said, running a red nail down the archangel’s cheek. “Love. Love. Love.”
“What are you doing here, Lilith?” Marc said, annoyance seeping into his voice.
“A private matter,” she said, still looking longingly at the angel. “But one of utmost importance. We need to talk.”
“I’m kind of in the middle of something here,” Marc said.
“Oh, we’re all in the middle of... something. And this requires your immediate attention.”
Marc sighed. “Could you gentlemen give us a minute?”
“I’ll do you one better,” Michael said. “You have until noon tomorrow to reconsider, then the Gates of Heaven will open, and you’ll all be squashed like bugs. This is your final warning.”
A beam of light shone in through the window, and then with a sound of flapping wings, the three angels were gone.
“We have a problem,” Lilith said, looking sideways at Amanda.
“Out with it then.” Marc eased his grip on Amanda’s shoulder. “You can talk in front of her.”
Lilith lowered her voice to a whisper. “Tartarus is empty.”
“What do you mean it’s empty?”
“The cages are broken! I even went to check myself. The fallen angels are all gone!”
Darkness crept into Marc’s face. Lucifer wasn’t just one step ahead – she was already closing in on the finish line. This was so much more than just a ploy to antagonize the Heavens. The banishment of Uriel had left Tartarus with little protection, and now two hundred of the most vicious creatures in existence were free. Some of them would side with her out of old allegiance; others would owe her a favor. The war in Hell had just been turned up to eleven.
“Gather the others,” Marc said. “This changes things.”